


kintsugi

by desispacebi



Category: Scorpion (TV 2014)
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Drabble, F/M, Future Fic, Hurt/Comfort, Mentions of Violence, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-25
Updated: 2015-09-25
Packaged: 2018-04-23 09:01:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4870993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/desispacebi/pseuds/desispacebi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kintsugi is a method of repairing broken pottery with gold. It’s the Japanese philosophy that by visibly healing the object, and accepting its history, however sad or tragic that it may be, it just creates something more beautiful than the original.</p>
            </blockquote>





	kintsugi

Toby’s staring down at a Happy Quinn that he’s never seen before. He’s not sure how to react. She’s lying there, unmoving. Her skin paler than usual, a bandage tied around her head, and her cheekbone purple from the bruising, she looks fragile.

If he’d said that aloud, no matter her condition, he’d have received a punch to the gut.

So far, Sly’s been on a bed, Walter’s been there, Paige has, and now Happy. It’s probably his turn next, but he doesn’t feel the slightest bit worried about it. Not now. Not when all he really wants is one Happy Quinn to open her eyes and look at him. Preferably glaring and telling him to ‘stop thinking so loud, numbnuts,’

He’s still frozen in the doorway, and Walter has to clear his throat before he moves to the side out of reflex. Paige gives him a sympathetic look, and he just stares back with a blank expression. Sylvester doesn’t spare him a glance and rushes straight for Happy’s bed.

“Okay, so, I’m not the doctor here, but I’m pretty sure that Happy will be back to normal cognitive and motor functions in approximately... three days and thirteen hours. I read the doctor’s report and there was a concussion and some internal bleeding, and while it’s not too severe… I’d give anyone else about five days till a normal recovery, but this is Happy we’re talking about, so she’ll be up in no time.” Sylvester rushes out in a breath and looks up at Walter and Paige with what can only be seen as a smile of relief. 

Toby watches Walter place an awkward hand on Happy’s and rests it there for about three point two seconds before taking it away and taking a couple of steps back, as if the distance will prove that he doesn’t really care for one of his only friends lying on a hospital bed. Paige on the other hand, takes a seat next to Happy, and pretends like her sitting there, looking worried will do something to help Happy heal faster. 

He doesn’t realise how long it’s been since he’s been standing there, staring at Happy, doing nothing but just _willing_ her to wake up, not caring about how improbable it is, but suddenly Walter’s staring at him, and Toby doesn’t remember how he got so close. “Stay with her,” he says, and Toby holds in the impulse to scoff at him. 

As if he was going to leave. He doesn’t scoff, though, and only nods in response.

When Toby looked at Happy again, he felt his anxiety levels drop as he saw her hand twitch. He looks around and sees that he’s the only one left, and he slowly approaches the bed. Taking the recently vacated chair, he watches her hand move again, and smiles this time, not doing it consciously, but not denying it either. 

He looks to the monitors on her side, and notices the slightly changes from a moment ago, and knows, judging by the slight increase in her heart rate, that she’ll be waking up soon, if only for a moment. 

Without spending too much time second guessing himself, he gently takes her hand, holding it lightly in his. Her fingers aren’t soft. They’re calloused from years and years of working with machines. Years of fixing machines when the people in her life tried to fix her, thinking that if she couldn’t be fixed, she’d try and fix something else. Years of running away from the people that tried to fix her. 

And yet, she didn’t understand, that she was like a Kintsugi bowl. 

He’s read about Kintsugi, and truly loves the Japanese for coming up with something like this, if only so that he can use it as an analogy. Kintsugi is a method of repairing broken pottery with gold. It’s the Japanese philosophy that by visibly healing the object, and accepting its history, however sad or tragic that it may be, it just creates something more beautiful than the original. 

When most people look at Happy Quinn, they try to look at her, but all they can focus on is the golden crack on her. He’s not going to deny that when he saw her for the first time, he saw nothing but her past. Nothing but the crack. But now? After knowing her hard and callous shell is nothing but a shell? He’s seen glimpses of the woman underneath that shell, and just that is enough to make him want to live the rest of his days with her. 

The hand in his squeezes lightly and he looks up. “Hap, you awake?” He asks lightly, hoping she’ll answer. He can see her eyes flickering underneath her eyelids and watches them as they slowly open.

“Sup, Doc?” Happy asks, a small smile on her face, that quickly turns into a wince. “My head hurts like I’ve gotten a hangover from a frat party or something…” she whines slightly.

“That… is to be expected, I think. Hold on,” Toby quickly stands, and making sure not to let go of her hand, he reaches for the button asking for the nurse. “I’ve called the nurse, she’ll get you something for the pain, okay?” He asks, not really asking, before sitting down next to her. He brings his other hand to play with Happy’s fingertips, and thanks her state of slight disorientation. If fully coherent, she’d never have allowed this, so while it’s happening, Toby’s going to enjoy it. 

Happy just nods in response, and within moments, a nurse is in and greeting the two of them with an overly chipper voice. She then decides to narrate everything she’s doing in an overly chipper voice. She checks Happy’s vitals, asks her about her pain, and Happy gives a sideway glance at him for a moment before slowly nodding. 

A couple more minutes of the fussing about, and Happy grumbles. “Just give me the meds, and leave, will you?”

Toby just barely hides a grin behind his hand, and looks at the nurse with a serious face. “I’m sorry, she’s not very sociable when she’s in pain,” he says, with a smiley grimace. 

The nurse looks taken aback, and only nods, walking out and reappearing a few minutes later with a syringe that she injects into the saline bag. 

“She’ll get a little… relaxed in the next couple of minutes, but then she’ll be out like a light, alright?” She says to Toby, and he nods, not looking at the nurse as she leaves. Instead, his eyes are fixed on Happy. 

“You feeling better?” He asks looking at her. He knows he shouldn’t treat her like she’s fragile, but after what happened today, he can’t help it. He was the one went in and got her, despite Walter and Cabe’s warnings. Found her tied to the chair, broken, battered, and bleeding. 

Happy only nods, and a sleepy smile takes over her face. “Yeah, this stuff works fast,” she says, turning on her side slightly to look at him. He knows that her right side’s the one that’s been hurt, so he’s unconcerned about his.

Toby’s still playing with her fingertips, and glances at her with a small smile. “I’m so sorry, Happy,” he says softly, holding her hand to reassure him that she’s really here and the El Caido gang’s been apprehended. 

Happy doesn’t respond. 

Maybe she didn’t hear him. She looks away, and Toby feels a wise crack bubbling up. “I mean, if I’d be—"

He’s cut off when Happy turns and looks at him, and for a moment, he’s wondering if the effects of the medicine have worn off, because she looks like she’s going to tell him to leave. 

“Stop.” She says simply, and Toby looks at her, his brow wrinkling slightly. 

“Stopped!” He says quickly, holding both his hands in the air, dropping Happy’s in the process. 

"Stop what?” He asks after a moment, and mimics Happy when she frowns, as he brings his hands back down, and clasps them together this time, not taking Happy’s.

“Come back here,” she mutters, and Toby wouldn’t have been able to hear her if there was someone else in the room. 

Toby looks around, and frowns. “I’m the only one here, Hap..."

“No, I mean, your hands,” she clarifies, and he’s confused again as he looks at his hands. They seem fine.

“Happy… what?” 

“Listen, numbnuts,” she starts, and Toby feels his heart swell a little with happiness. He loves this woman. He really does. “You have nice hands, okay? And they feel nice. When you’re holding mine. It’s like, the feeling. When it’s nice, but also, not nice… but I really like it.” She says, and she’s incoherent for most of it, but it’s like a new light in Tony’s life.

“What do you mean?” He asks, tilting his head slightly, a minuscule smile on his face. 

“Like, it feels nice, but I don’t want to tell you that it feels nice. So I keep hitting you.” She mumbles, and Toby can see her eyes droop.

“You want me to hold your hand… because you like physical contact with me?” He clarifies again, and when she nods, Toby feels like a chorus of God’s holiest angels have appeared behind him to sing ‘Halleujah’.

“I thought I was the one who suffered the concussion. Yes, butthead,” she mumbles, and blearily opens her eyes to look for his hand, and grabs one, pulling it close to her, and closes her eyes.

“Okay.” Toby says, a delirious smile on his face. He doesn’t mind that his arm’s stretched in an awkward position that will result in discomfort in the next seven minutes, or that he’ll probably have to stay here for the rest of the night, which, okay, he planned on it anyway. All he can do right now is look at Happy Quinn, and fall in love with her all over again. 

“Okay.” 

* * *

When Toby walks into the garage the day after Happy was discharged, and wasn’t surprised when he saw her banging away at something. He walked up to her, and looked at whatever she was working on. “Hey, Happy,” he said with a smile. 

She didn’t remember anything she’d said that night, when she was a little loopy from the meds. He had known from the way she had woken up the next morning, and frowned when she saw his hand in hers, and quickly took it away. “Don’t say anything,” she had commanded him, and then chosen to ignore him all morning till Walter, Paige and Sylvester decided to come visit. 

Still, she looks up at him and nods in acknowledgement. 

“How are you feeling?” He asks, and she just looks at him. 

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t feel fine, Doc, relax.” 

And he does, as he leans against her workstation, and watches her work. Her brow crinkles as she hammers a piece of metal and frowns. Her eyes still fixed on the metal, she reaches for something. He watches her work for a couple of minutes, before sighing, and straightening up, ready to walk to his table. 

“Good to have you back, Happy,” he smiles. 

“I never left, asshole. And I don’t plan on leaving any time soon, get it?” And before he knows it, her fist comes in sharp contact with his gut and the only thing Toby can do is just smile wider.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! This is actually my first Quintis fic, (it started out as a prompt) and if you guys want to send me anything else you want me to write, feel free! You can find me at priyankaofrp.tumblr.com


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